Bread-slicer.



I. R. CROUCH & N. H'. TURBYFILL.

BREAD SLIGER.

APPLIOATION nun mu 9, 1908.

912,290. Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WHO

61: torn:

J. R. CROUCH & N. H. TURBYFILL.

BREAD suonn. APPLIOATIONIILED MAY 9, 1908. 912,290, Patented Feb. 16, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I w win- .3:-

FATENT @FFTQE.

JAMES R. CROUCH AND NEWTON H. TURBYFILL, OF ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

BREAD-SLIGER.

Application filed May 9, 1908.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES R. Gnoncrr and NEWTON H. TUnnYrILL, citizens of-the United States, residing at Asheville, in the county of Buncombe and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bread-Slicers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to improvements in devices for slicing bread, meat, fruit, and other food, and it consists of the novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical and eflicient device of this character which will actuate a knife blade in substantially the same way in which a person manipulates an ordinary knife in slicing bread and other food.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will permit the slicing to be quickly done and which will also permit the slices to be made of any thickness.

The above and other objects of the invention are attained in its preferred embodi ment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an end elevation of our improved slicer; Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing it applied to a table; and Figs. i and are detail sections taken, respectively, on the planes indicated by the lines atl and 55 in 1.

Our invention comprises a vertical supporting member 1 preferably in the form of a board recessed at its top to receive a trough or box 2 for the bread, meat, fruit, or other food to be sliced. These parts constitute the body of the device and they are so con structed to enable it to be readily secured to the end of a table T or any other suitable support. This may be done by resting the bottom of the trough 2 upon the top of the table with the vertical board or member 1 bearing against the end of the table top and then passing one or more screws through the bottom of the trough and the vertical end member 1 and into the table top, as will be readily understood. While the trough 2 may be of any suitable form and construction, we preferably make it with a vertical or right angular frontwall 3 and an up- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

Serial No. $1,871.

wardly and forwardly inclined rear wall as shown more clearly in Fig. 1.

Upon the outer face of the vertical member or support 1 are parallel guides arranged to extend in an upward and rearward direction and adapted to receive a slide 5 carr ing a knife blade 6 and an adjustable gage 7. Said guides are preferably in the form of strips or cleats 8 of L-shape in cross section, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, secured by screws 9 to the board 1, the strips being arranged in parallel relation to provide the T-shaped spacebetween them for the reception of similar-shaped bars 11 which form the slide 5. Said bars 11 have their upper and outer ends connected by the cross piece or handle 12 and their lower ends are united by the blade 6 and gage 7. By making the bars 11 T- shaped in cross section their projecting portions or flanges 13 slide in the grooves or channels in the L-shaped strips 8 and guide the slide in its reciprocatory movement, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The handle 12 has a slight upward and forward inclination and may be suitably shaped so that it can be conveniently grasped and reciproca ted in a downward and forward direction to cause the blade 6 to cross the open end of the trough 2 and slice the bread or other food in the same. The blade 6 is disposed horizontally or in a plane parallel with the bottom of the trough so that it will make a slicing out similar to that made by an ordinary knife when used in slicing bread. The bottom edge of the blade is beveled ,and sharpened and its ends are apertured to receive screw studs or bolts 14 the heads of which are set in and the threaded extremities of which project from the slide bars 11 to receive washers and clamping nuts 15.

The gage 7 is preferably made adjustable so that the thickness of the slices cut by the device may be varied at will, and it is in the form of a flat strip extending horizontally between the lower portions of the slide bars 11 and apertured adjacent to its ends to receive and slide upon screw studs or bolts 16 on the outer ends of which latter are washers a id adjusting nuts 17. Arranged upon said screw studs 16 between the inner face of the gage strip and the outer faces of the slide bars are coil springs 18 which serve to press the gage outwardly and against the adjusting nuts, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. By means of this construction the gage strip,

which when the blade is elevated is disposed opposite the trough 2 and forms a stop for the loaf of bread or other article of food in the trough, may be readily adjusted toward and from the end of the trough to regulate the thickness of the slices out by the knife blade. 7

In order to catch the slices cut by the device as the slide is reciprocated, we preferably attach to the vertical member or support 1 a removable tray or box 19. The latter may be constructed of wood or metal and is mounted upon the member 1 by three hooks 20 which it carries and which are adapted to engage screw eyes 21 upon said member, as clearly illustrated in the drawin s.

Tn operation, the loaf of bread or other food to be sliced is placed in the trough 2 and when the blade is elevated it is pushed against the gage or stop strip 7. The handle 12 is then forced downwardly and forwardly so that the slide causes the blade 6 to cut diagonally or at an angle through the bread or food. This movement of the blade effect ively slices the food and prevents fresh bread and other soft substances from being crushed or mashed.

It will be noted that the device is exceedingly simple in construction so that it may be produced at a small cost and will be strong and durable and at the same timeefl'ective of each pair being opposed to each other in spaced relation, an open slide consisting of two side bars of T-shape in cross section to slide between the bars of the guide strips 7 and an inclined cross piece uniting the upper ends of said slide bars and serving as a handle for the slide, a horizontally disposed knife blade adjustably connected to the intermediate portions of the slide bars and serving to unite the same, and an adjustable gage strip secured to the lower ends of the slide bars and also serving to unite them.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

J AHES R. CROUCH.

his NEWTON H. X TURBYFILL.

mark lVitnesses JOHN E. RICE, EDWIN B. JEFFRESS. 

